A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Concerned with the time, money, and resources that the federal government expends servicing its vehicle and engine fleet, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works asked GAO to compile information on the government's use of engine lubricating oil. GAO was asked to determine: (1) how much engine lubricating oil the federal government bought in fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001; (2) what costs are incurred for the disposal and recycling of engine lubricating oil; (3) what costs are incurred for changing motor oil in military and civilian fleets; (4) what logistical implications exist for the transport of engine lubricating oil during recent military operations; and (5) what options exist for reducing purchase, maintenance, and disposal costs for engine lubricating oil. To conduct its study, GAO focused on three agencies that account for 79 percent of all non-tactical vehicles owned or leased by the U.S. government: the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the General Services Administration (GSA). It compiled information only on engine lubricating oil used in ground vehicles and equipment and not in aircraft and ships."

This report provides an overview of federal law governing wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping. It also appends citations to state law in the area and contains a bibliography of legal commentary as well as the text of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This report also includes a brief summary of the recently expired Protect America Act, P.L. 110-55 and of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008, P.L. 110-261 (H.R. 6304).

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Social Security is an important social insurance program affecting virtually every American family. It represents a foundation of the nation's retirement income system and provides millions of Americans with disability insurance and survivors' benefits. Over the long term, as the baby boom generation retires, Social Security's financing shortfall presents a major solvency and sustainability challenge. Numerous reform proposals have been put forward in recent years, and in December 2001 a commission appointed by the President presented three possible reform models. Senator Breaux, Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, asked GAO to use its analytic framework to evaluate the Commission's models. This framework consists of three criteria: (1) the extent to which a proposal achieves sustainable solvency and how it would affect the economy and the federal budget; (2) the balance struck between the twin goals of income adequacy and individual equity; and (3) how readily such changes could be implemented, administered, and explained to the public."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress is concerned that waste from animal feeding operations continues to threaten water quality. In light of this concern, GAO was asked to review the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) administration of its regulatory program for animal feeding operations and to determine the potential challenges states and EPA may face when they begin to implement the revisions to this program. GAO surveyed all EPA regional offices and four states with large numbers of animal feeding operations that may be subject to EPA regulations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is dramatically changing the way it purchases goods and services by relying more on judgment and initiative versus rigid rules for making purchasing decisions. Congress has enacted a series of reforms to help the government adapt to this environment. GAO was asked to assess strategies agencies are using to ensure that their acquisition workforces are receiving the training needed to operate in a changing business environment. In doing so, GAO looked at the General Services Administration (GSA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of Defense (DOD). GAO also looked at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) because it is exempt from federal acquisition laws, giving it greater flexibility and discretion."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its 2001 performance and accountability report on the Department of State, GAO identified important issues concerning the security of U.S. facilities and personnel overseas, visa issuance, illicit drugs entering the United States, information security, and other issues facing the department. The information GAO presents in this report is intended to sustain congressional attention and a departmental focus on continuing to make progress in addressing these challenges and ultimately overcoming them. This report is part of a special series of reports on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On December 9, 2002, GAO convened a governance and accountability forum to discuss challenges facing regulators, the accounting profession, and boards of directors and management of public companies in effectively implementing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related regulatory actions to improve public confidence in U.S. corporate governance and accountability systems. Major accountability breakdowns recent years, exacerbated in the last 2 years by the unprecedented massive breakdowns and bankruptcy of Enron and WorldCom, have contributed to the decline in investor confidence in U.S. capital markets. The forum focused on the four interrelated areas of corporate governance, the financial reporting model, the accounting profession, and regulation and enforcement that the accountability breakdowns have surfaced as critical areas to be strengthened. Addressing these challenges will involve the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. In general, there must be the proper incentives, transparency, and accountability mechanisms in place to ensure the effectiveness of any system. As a result, these overarching principles were considered in connection with the issues discussed. Forum participants included individuals from federal and state government, the private sector, standards setting and oversight bodies, and a variety of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, the Department of Justice (DOJ) provides Congress and the public with an annual performance report. These reports serve as an important measure of DOJ's progress related to its strategic goals and objectives, including statistics on its Fiscal Year 2000 Performance Report. We were asked to review the accuracy of DOJ's terrorism-related conviction statistics. Among other objectives, in this report we (1) identify how DOJ develops its terrorism-related conviction statistics and (2) assess whether DOJ has sufficient management oversight and internal controls in place to ensure the accuracy of terrorism-related statistics included in its annual performance reports."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its 2001 performance and accountability report on the Department of Labor, GAO identified major management challenges in increasing the employment and earnings of America's workforce, protecting the benefits of workers, and fostering safe and healthy workplaces. The information GAO presents in this report is intended to help sustain congressional attention and a departmental focus on continuing to make progress in addressing these challenges and ultimately overcoming them. This report is part of a special series of reports on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report addresses the major management challenges and program risks facing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as it works to carry out its multiple and highly diverse missions. The report discusses the actions that HUD has taken and that are under way to address the challenges GAO identified in its Performance and Accountability Series 2 years ago. Also, GAO summarizes the challenges that remain, new ones that have emerged, and further actions that GAO believes are needed."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its 2001 performance and accountability report on the Department of Justice, GAO identified five major management challenges. Justice has since made progress on (1) developing measurable performance targets in reducing illegal drugs and (2) improving management of its asset forfeiture program. However, three challenges remain and a fourth managing the FBI's transformation was added. GAO prepared this report to bring these major challenges to the attention of the Congress and Justice. This is part of a special series of reports on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over 25 million children have health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Coverage alone, however, does not guarantee that services will be available or that children will receive needed care. GAO was asked to evaluate states' efforts to facilitate and monitor access to primary and preventive services for children in these jointly funded federal-state programs. The study surveyed 16 states, covering over 65 percent of the Medicaid and SCHIP population. GAO analyzed requirements relevant to managed care and fee-for-service (FFS) delivery systems, including the number and location of physicians and their availability to see beneficiaries, monitoring of health plan or physician compliance with these requirements, and collection and analysis of beneficiary service utilization data."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its 2001 performance and accountability report on the Social Security Administration (SSA), GAO identified important issues relating to research capacity, its process for determining disability, management of a high-risk Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, future service delivery plans, and protection of information facing the agency. The information GAO presents in this report is intended to help to sustain congressional attention and an agency focus on continuing to make progress in addressing these challenges and ultimately overcoming them. This report is part of a special series of reports on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Bureau of the Census partnered with local governments, advocacy groups, and other organizations to help it enumerate people without conventional housing. Counting this population--which includes shelter residents and the homeless--has been a longstanding challenge for the Bureau. A number of organizations put substantial resources into an operation the Bureau called Service-Based Enumeration. In return, some expected the Bureau to provide data that would help them plan and deliver employment, health, and other services. However, the Bureau did not release the data as planned, which raised questions about the Bureau's decision-making on data quality issues. In response to a congressional request, GAO examined the Bureau's decision-making process behind its change in plans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To enhance the capacity and safety of the national airspace system, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), within the Department of Transportation, is acquiring 74 Standard Terminal Automation Replacement Systems (STARS). STARS will replace some outdated air traffic control equipment. Since 1996, when FAA initiated this major computer hardware and software acquisition, the scope and estimated costs of STARS have changed many times. FAA now estimates that STARS's remaining costs will total about $2.54 billion. GAO was asked to assess the reliability of FAA's life-cycle cost estimate for STARS, determine the impact of STARS's estimated costs on future FAA budgets, and identify any alternatives to STARS that FAA is considering. GAO based its analysis on published FAA cost data and the guidance FAA uses for managing major acquisitions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Aviation experts believe that building runways is one key way to address airport capacity issues and prevent delays that can affect the entire U.S. economy, but runway projects are often controversial and time-consuming. GAO was asked to examine how much time airports spend completing runways, what challenges airports and other stakeholders experience during this process, and what airports and other stakeholders have done to address challenges related to runway projects. GAO analyzed the results of surveys from 30 airports on 32 runway projects and visited 5 airports in order to interview numerous runway project stakeholders. The Department of Transportation agreed with GAO's characterization of the challenges associated with building runways and some of the initiatives taken to address these challenges. They did express some concerns related to GAO's analysis of the time airports spent or estimated spending in developing runways, and suggested that GAO acknowledge additional FAA efforts to improve the runway process. We believe that our approach was a reasonable assessment of the amount of time taken to build runways; however, we clarified our discussion about the length of time. We also added information regarding …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's 2001 report on major challenges at the Small Business Administration (SBA) addressed lender oversight, the 8(a) program for small disadvantaged businesses, disaster loan processing, and other issues. The information GAO presents in this report is intended to help sustain congressional attention and SBA's focus on addressing these challenges. This report is part of a special series of reports on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the 2001 Performance and Accountability report on the U.S. Postal Service (the Service), GAO identified financial, operational, and human capital challenges threatening the Service's ability to carry out its mission. Since then, these challenges have continued and its financial difficulties have increased, resulting in GAO's placing the Service's transformation efforts and long-term outlook on its high-risk list. The information in this report is intended to help focus attention and facilitate progress in addressing the key challenges facing the Service. This report is part of a special series on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its 2001 performance and accountability report on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), GAO identified important security, modernization, food safety, food assistance, and other issues facing the department. The information GAO presents in this report is intended to help to sustain congressional attention and departmental focus on continuing to make progress in addressing these challenges and ultimately overcoming them. This report is part of a special series of reports on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The airline industry, facing unprecedented financial losses as a result of the economic downturn and the terrorist attacks, has taken steps to minimize losses, including reducing or eliminating service to some small communities. In March 2002, GAO reported that small communities had almost 20 percent fewer departures in October 2001, as compared to October 2000. GAO was asked to follow up on that work by examining the challenges small communities face in attracting and keeping the air service they desire and what steps they have taken to overcome these challenges."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past 2 years, the Postal Service has experienced growing financial difficulties. In an effort to transform the organization to reduce costs and increase productivity, the Postal Service awarded a national-level office supply contract to Boise Corporation. In addition, the Postal Service required Boise to submit a subcontracting plan, which outlines how small, minority-, and woman-owned businesses will be reached through the contract. GAO was asked to assess the status of the Postal Service's implementation of the Boise contract and Boise's achievement of its subcontracting plan. GAO also reviewed the extent to which the Postal Service is buying office supplies directly from small, minority-, and woman-owned businesses."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its 2001 performance and accountability report on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), GAO identified important management issues facing the agency. The information GAO presents in this report is intended to help sustain congressional and agency attention on continuing to make progress in addressing these challenges and ultimately overcoming them. This report is part of a special series of 23 reports on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "When shipments of dangerous goods (hazardous chemical substances that could endanger public safety or the environment, such as flammable liquids or radioactive materials) are not properly packaged and labeled for air transport, they can pose significant threats because there is little room for error when something goes wrong in flight. To better understand the risks posed by improper ("undeclared") air shipments, we assessed what is known about their nature and frequency, what key mechanisms are in place to prevent their occurrence, and what the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Postal Service do to enforce federal regulations for shipping dangerous goods by air."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its 2001 performance and accountability report on the Department of Transportation (the department), GAO identified important safety, security, acquisition, financial management, and other issues facing the department. The information GAO presents in this report is intended to help sustain congressional attention and a departmental focus on continuing to make progress in addressing these challenges--and others that have arisen since 2001--and ultimately overcoming them. This report is part of a special series of reports on governmentwide and agency-specific issues."